Sally Jessy Sues National Enquirer

NEW YORK – Sally Jessy Raphael is suing The National Enquirer for saying she had a "mental breakdown" after her long-running talk show was cancelled last spring.

Raphael will announce a "landmark libel lawsuit" against The Enquirer today in a midtown press conference, according to her publicist.

The Enquirer story, which ran in the Oct. 22 issue, claimed that a "distraught" Raphael, 67, "suffered a mental breakdown" and required psychiatric treatment twice at Lenox Hill Hospital after her talk show, Sally Jessy Raphael, was canned last spring after nearly 20 years on the air due to dwindling ratings.

The Enquirer story said Raphael has also seen a doctor "affiliated" with Lenox Hill and that she "went into a tailspin" after learning of the "unceremonious" cancellation which "nearly caused a disaster" in her marriage to longtime husband Karl Soderlund.

The story said Raphael suffered "terrible crying jags" that frightened her family and friends and was "nearly hysterical" after learning her show was being cancelled by Studios USA.

A spokesman for American Media, which publishes the National Enquirer said, "American Media stands behind its story fully and will vigorously defend itself in any lawsuit that will be filed."